March 9, 2021 | St. Lucie Cultural Alliance | Member Spotlight – Raynelle A. “Nfr Ra” Benjamin Chapman
Contributed by Dorothy Kamm
Member Spotlight – Raynelle A. “Nfr Ra” Benjamin Chapman
Raynelle Benjamin Chapman, also is known as Nfr Ra, is a self-taught artist and designer. Nfr Ra (which is pronounced Nefer Rah) is the signature she uses on her paintings and painted fashions. It was her husband, Dwayne, a teacher at Westwood High School, who gave her that name. Nfr Ra means beautiful energy in the Egyptian language and indeed, Raynelle radiates a wonderfully warm vibe.
Raynelle moved from Guyana, South America to New York when she was nine years old. Drawing was a hobby. She would come home from school and draw, but she never had any formal art training. In high school, she became interested in fashion. “I was a party girl, so people didn’t know I was an artist,” says Raynelle.
In 2004 the Chapman family moved from Brooklyn to Port St. Lucie after coming on vacation and falling in love with the area. While creativity has threaded throughout her life, it was here that Raynelle discovered her talents and her life’s purpose.
Raynelle was a stay-at-home mom. When the family moved to Florida, they had a tight budget. “I always dabbled in fashion and I had friends that worked with denim in the ‘90s,” says Raynelle. “My daughters had pairs of jeans that I would rip up and convert into skirts by gluing pieces and seams,” she explains. The skirts looked like patchwork. “I would glue the pockets differently to create unique styles,” says Raynelle.
One friend suggested she use paint to cover up the glue and she took her suggestion. She painted landscapes on the denim skirts.
At the time, her daughters were in elementary school. Their friends and their moms took notice of their unique clothing and Raynelle started getting orders. In 2008 she started her all-denim clothing line created from recycled denim.
Eventually, Raynelle taught herself how to sew. She purchased jeans from thrift stores at first due to budget constraints and continues to use recycled material because of environmental concerns.
At a function in Sewall’s Point Raynelle met a woman named Marie who originally was from Poland. According to Raynelle, “Marie was an amazing fashion designer who had retired. She approached me and became a mentor. Marie taught me how to make clothing look more professional instead of homemade, neatening up details.”
Raynelle has two lines within the Nfr Ra Denim Collection: Painted Denim and Naked Denim. The Painted Denim consists of denim fashions enhanced with Raynelle’s painting. “The art always is inside of me, so I favor painting,” says Raynelle. “Because some clients prefer the fashions without embellishment, four years ago I launched the Naked Denim clothing line,” she adds.
It’s not only local residents who have taken notice of Raynelle’s fashions. Raynelle was asked to participate in Miami Fashion Week in 2017 where Ashley Graham, the nation’s top full-figured model wore her outfits. Emily Estefan, daughter of singer Gloria Estefan, and reality TV star and recording artist Nikki Allure also own her denim fashions.
Last year, Raynelle started focusing on painting canvases, although she says she always painted pictures. “The art is the essential part of me. I could paint all day,” says Raynelle. Her finished paintings can take anywhere from one month to 10 years to complete. She says, “I paint a lot of women. I paint pictures with political points of view.” Raynelle’s colors and forms are bold and prismatic, the paintings energetic. Her artwork as well as her fashions truly reflect her name – Nfr Ra.
To learn more about the St. Lucie Cultural Alliance and the benefits of membership, please visit ArtStLucie.org, email: info@artstlucie.org or call 772-462-2783.
